Acts 10: 34–43; Psalm 118: 1–2, 14–24; Colossians 3: 1–4;
John 20: 1–18
This is a homily by
Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, April 16, 2017.
“GOD’S
WILL REVEALED”
Early this past week, the Bishop initiated
a Facebook thread by posing the question “What do you long for in an Easter
homily?” The responses were many and varied. Some said, “Brevity”, while others
said “Clarity”. My own contribution to what became a very lengthy set of
responses was, “Did it really happen?”
Just for the record, I do believe that
Jesus was actually raised from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. I believe the
resurrection to be an event in history. I do not believe that the Easter
accounts are simply the product of an ancient and primitive people who are
relating their religious experience. I believe we can trust the eyewitness
account of those first disciples, who, like Peter, affirm that they were the
ones who ate and drank with the Lord after His resurrection. (See Acts 10: 41.)
(For what it’s worth, the first century historian, Josephus, records Jesus’
death, and also reports that there were reports of Jesus’ resurrection.)
The Easter event is, perhaps, the central
event which shapes our Christian faith. Certainly, for St. Paul, that is so,
for in writing to the early Church in the city of Corinth, he maintains that,
if there is no resurrection, we Christians are among the most miserable people
on earth (see I Corinthians 15: 19). Paul says that, if there is no
resurrection, then we are dead in our sins and are without hope. (I am
paraphrasing his argument.)
The basics of the Easter event are known to
most people. In fact, I am sure that everyone here could recite the basic parts
of the Easter account.
But that common knowledge presents a
challenge to the preacher: How does the preacher cast new light on a very
familiar part of our Christian story? (For what it’s worth, the same challenge
exists with the Christmas story.)
Allow me, if you will, to approach the
Easter event from this perspective:
“Sometimes
we know God’s will by what God makes possible.”
For those of you who are reading this
homily, you will notice that I put this saying in quotation marks. The reason
for that is because I first heard the saying from my spiritual director when I
was in seminary. It came from the wisdom of Fr. Dabney Carr.
This understanding of knowing God’s will
might require a little unpacking.
Dabney was referring, especially, to
knowing what God’s will is with respect to decisions that a person might have
to make as the future lies ahead. So, for example, a seminarian (as I was in
those days) might be faced with having to make choices about what church to
serve after seminary and after ordination.
But Dabney would also affirm that knowing
God’s will also involves looking over one’s shoulder to see how God has worked
in the past. Again, in the case of the seminarian, that might involve a review
of the ordination process that had brought them to the point of being a
seminary student.
What I’ve offered here by way of
illustration applies to all parts of our lives, not just to the process of
ordination and to being in seminary.
As we turn to the Easter event, let’s apply
this wisdom to the raising of Jesus.
“Sometimes
we know God’s will by what God makes possible.”
The central fact of Easter is this: Jesus
is raised to new life after having been truly and completely dead. Therefore,
we can safely say that God is the God of new life. The giving of new life must
be in God’s will, therefore.
Since Jesus is free from death, He lives
forevermore. Therefore, we can conclude that it is God’s will that He will
continue to be with us forever.
In the abstract, we can grasp these truths.
They are central tenets of our Christian faith.
But what does God’s ability to create new
life have to do with us, with our daily lives?
If we look back at the events which lead up
to Easter, we see a pattern of death leading to new life. Indeed, in John 12: 24,
Jesus characterizes His death by using the example of a seed, which is planted
in the ground, where it dies. In the process of giving up its own life, this
seed gives new life to the plants that will spring forth.
We see this principle at work in nature,
and especially at this time of the year when the created order is renewing
itself. At this time of the year, plantings of seeds are giving forth new life.
That same principle is at work in the
Easter event, for we arrive at Easter by way of Good Friday.
Applying the principle of knowing God’s
will by what God makes possible, we can affirm that it must be in God’s design
for things to die, in order to bring forth new life.
Applied to our daily lives, we can affirm
that we are constantly in the process of dying in some way or another. For
example (and speaking personally), I can affirm that certain parts of my life
are now dead. But new life and new possibilities have come forth. So, as I look
back over my shoulder at my life’s pathway, I can see God’s hand at work in
causing some things to die away, even as He has brought forth new life and new
possibilities.
Sometimes, those things that die, either
because God’s will is being worked out, or because we have taken steps to
deliberately cause things to go away, or because circumstances have caused
certain things to no longer be a part of our lives, lead to new life, either
directly or indirectly. Even in cases where God’s will might not be directly
involved, God can use those events for good, bringing forth new life and new
possibilities.
It is part of God’s will to purify for
Himself a holy people. Part of that process for the Christian is the pruning
away of unproductive growth and injurious actions and attitudes. The Letter to
the Hebrews states this disciplinary process quite clearly, reminding us that “the
Lord disciplines those He loves.” (Hebrews 12: 8a) Again, speaking personally,
the pruning process is often uncomfortable, perhaps even painful (at the time),
but it brings forth new life.
We can never take away our past. The past
is a reality that contributes to who we are today. It might be easy to dwell on
the difficult parts of our life’s history, but perhaps the healthier thing to
do would be to focus on the ways that God has brought us through difficult
times and hardships. The writer of the text to the hymn “Amazing Grace” states
this well:
“Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
AMEN.
